


Molly is Pining and Caleb is oblivious. What could go wrong?

by The_Hybrid



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Critical Role Campaign 2 - Fandom
Genre: Day One, I wrote this like a week and a half ago, I've written more since then, M/M, but - Freeform, but it got away from me, critrole, critrole rsweek, eg Claeb's backstory, i can't remember, it now has angst, it's kinda short-lived?, look - Freeform, so as such, so this is just a bit of it, spoilers for ep 18, this was meant to be a oneshot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 11:52:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14954169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Hybrid/pseuds/The_Hybrid
Summary: Just read the title guys! Not much else I can say





	1. Chapter 1

Caleb was, like normal, silently sat on the end of the Mighty Nein's table for the night, staring down at his pint of ale like it was the most interesting thing in the world. He did, in fact, have a much more interesting book upstairs in his room that Nott had “totally-definitely-not stolen” from The Archive of the Cobalt Soul because she saw him “looking at it longingly” and he “deserves anything and everything” he wants. It was just Nott had wanted him to be sociable and had looked at him with her eyes in the way she knew he couldn't resist (it reminded him of the way Frumpkin looked at him sometimes when he wanted some of Caleb's food), so he was there. 

 

“-isn't that right, Caleb?” 

 

Caleb startled at the sound of his name, and looked up to the rest of the group. He tried to remember the conversation, but it seemed he had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he couldn't recall anything.

 

“I said he wasn't listening! Hand it over Jester.” Beauregard exclaimed after a few moments of Caleb not answering. Jester reluctantly handed over two silver pieces.

 

“Hey, that's not fair! You could've told Caleb to react like that!”

 

Both Caleb and Beauregard looked at Jester incredulously “Really? Come on, Caleb's the last one I'd set something like that up with. He can't lie for shit and besides, we all know we hate each other's guts.”

 

Caleb's protestation of his lying skills died when Jester's expression turned defeated and just shrugged his shoulders. “Beauregard is correct. She hates me because, according to her, I should just be able to forget about my past,-” Caleb's voice turned hard “-and I hate her because I can't believe anyone would be so unaccepting of my coping methods when hers are to punch everything she sees.

 

Everyone except Beauregard and Mollymauk looked at Caleb with astonishment at his outburst. Beauregard let out a humourless laugh. “Well, he's not wrong. Here's to unhealthy coping mechanisms, eh Widogast?” She raised her tankard. 

 

Caleb just glared back then snapped his head to Mollymauk who was smirking next to him. “What's so funny, Mollymauk? Care to share to the group?” 

 

“Oh, it's nothing.” The whole group's gaze shifted to him, none of the believing. “Oh, alright. Look, I'm just glad that our little Wizard here actually has a backbone. It's nice to see he's not-” Mollymauk slammed his mouth shut when he saw Nott bare her teeth.

 

“Anyway, am I the only one who is wondering what has Caleb so absent?” Fjord, ever the guardian, interjected before  tensions could run too high and a fight could begin.

 

“Yeah Caleb! Tell us. Were you thinking about a girllllllll?” Jester's voice rang out straight after Fjord, her annoyance at losing the bet apparently dissipating just as fast as it had appeared.

 

Caleb spluttered on the mouth of ale he'd just taken.

 

“Um, Jester? I don't think girls are Caleb's, um, area of expertise” Fjord at least had the decency to lower his voice, but all the group still heard him.

 

“Is that true Caleb? Do you like guys? Oh! I know so many great guys! I could set you up. It'll be great. Especially as Beau apparently isn't into guys.” She looks accusingly at the monk. “You might like some of the guys I was going to set up with her!”

 

“No, umm-” Jester's face fell. Caleb felt Mollymauk go strangely still against his side, but had no idea why “-I... I mean... Well, yes, technically-” he paused as the strange stillness next to him became sudden rigidity, and a memory, long-buried, stirred “-but no, that's not what I was thinking about. I was just thinking about a book of Arcane I have upstairs. Mollymauk-” the body next to him relaxed once again “-doesn't matter.”

 

Well used to Caleb's strangeness, the rest of their group took no notice of Caleb's half sentence, and instead went back to the topic at hand.

 

“I wonder what sort of book could have distracted Caleb so much.” Beauregard began the conversation once again, with an accompanying eye-roll from Caleb.

 

“Hm, you said Arcane, right Caleb? Could be a new spell or something he got from that library.” 

 

“Yeah, except you can't take scrolls away from the archive, Jester.”

 

“Something he bought from Pumat's then?” Beauregard responded. “You went to Pumat's with him after all, didn't you Fjord?”

 

“I mean, yeah, but he didn't get anything except more fancy paper and ink.”

 

Already knowing what the book was, Caleb and Nott were conversing silently in the way they learnt in the prison where they met. They startled when Mollymauk suddenly spoke up.

 

“I think you're all ignoring the obvious.” The trio at the end looked at Mollymauk expectantly. “Caleb was obviously thinking about pending 'edubation'.”

 

A chorus of giggle broke out throughout the group, Jester's being the loudest, but even with hers, Caleb couldn't miss Nott's giggles. He shook his head and, with a smile, drank the rest of his ale in one go. “I do think that is my cue to leave. That's enough socialising for me for one night.” He stood and kissed Nott's head. “Goodnight, all.”

 

He left the table and made his way to the corridor that lead to their rooms, shaking his head when the barely-stifled giggles became full laughs, and smirked when he heard Nott's voice ring out loud enough to be heard at his door.

 

“It was a book about transformation magic! I got him it!” as she tumbled into another round of intoxicated giggles. 

 

“They are going to be so hung over in the morning.” Caleb said to himself as he let himself into his room, sat on his bed and opened the aforementioned book.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caleb's not completely sure what time it was when a tentative knock at his door pulled him from his book. He could have probably worked it out easily enough, but he felt content with the knowledge that enough time had passed for the sun to set properly and for the moon to rise high in the night sky.

“Come in.” Although Caleb was unsure as to who would have wanted to talk to him at that time of night, he is unconcerned that it was an intruder. No one could get past Beauregard and Jester with ill intentions, even when they were drunk.

 

He was, however, slightly surprised that it was purple horns that peaked through the crack in the door. “Hi. Just wanted to tell you that Nott is having a sleepover with the girls again, and that she says you're not to worry.”

 

“I thought it would be one of you or Fjord. Nott tends not to knock when she enters our room.” Caleb offered Mollymauk a tentative smile, but when the Tiefling didn't leave straight away, Caleb sighed. “Anything else I could help you with?”

 

“Usually it's Fjord that checks on you and passes messages along but he's passed out after a drinking game with Beau, that he lost, by the way, and he tends to snore when he's drunk and-”

 

“Mollymauk, come in. Sit.” Caleb paused until Mollymauk was sat on Nott's bed, facing himself. Mollymauk stayed silent, seemingly aware Caleb had more to say. “Mollymauk, would you like to sleep in here tonight?”

 

“Would that be alright? I mean, I'm fine to back to my room if it'll bother you. I'll be asleep so fast, Fjord wont even bother me-”

 

“It is fine. There is going to be an empty bed tonight anyway, what does it matter what room it is in? **Ja**?”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

Caleb attempted to continue reading his book, but felt himself hyper-aware that Mollymauk had not moved or made any attempts to get into bed. He sighed again and closed his book with more force than was strictly necessary. “Is there something else you wished to say, Mollymauk?”

 

Mollymauk swallowed and looked up to see Caleb looking at him with a mixture of concern and exasperation. Mollymauk smirked, despite his awkwardness at the impending conversation. That particular mixture of facial expressions was both a Caleb signature, and somehow only conveyable by the wizard.

 

“I just wanted to check I didn't cross any lines earlier with my comment. You left pretty sharpish afterwards and I hoped I didn't upset you at all.”

 

Caleb let out a breathy laugh, seemingly at Mollymauk's discomfort and sudden awkwardness. “No, Mollymauk. You did not upset me. I left only because I wished to read this -” He gestured to the book, now laying on the bed bedside him “- and because your comment gave me an opportunity to do so. Do not feel concerned that you have upset me. I actually was also amused by the implication. Although I must admit I will not mourn the day 'edubation' is forgotten about.” Caleb smiled slightly at Mollymauk, meeting his gaze despite the discomfort he found himself in. For some reason, Caleb could always put aside his discomfort when Mollymauk was involved. Only Nott held the same feelings of safety, and that had taken months of working together. Not the few weeks he had been with Mollymauk.

 

Mollymauk smiled fully at Caleb. Not his usual showman's smile, but a genuine smile, and the laughter returned to his voice when he spoke again. “I am glad of that, although I regret to tell you that I don't think anyone is going to forget 'edubation' for a long time, my dear.”

 

Caleb groaned excessively and through himself onto his pillow face down. He heard Mollymauk's chuckle, but did not move. Only when he heard Mollymauk readying himself for sleep did he turn over, move his book back into his cloak and get under the covers himself.

 

“Goodnight Mollymauk. Sleep well.”

 

“Goodnight Mister Caleb.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to comment/kudos if you enjoyed it!
> 
> Also subscribe if you want more so you get those all important notifications of updates!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I said that I was going to write a bit more before I posted another chapter, but this part was written already and I got such good reviews for chapter 1 (thanks btw!!!) that I decided to post this early. Although do not expect any other updates to be this fast. It. Will. Not. Happen. Again.
> 
> Trigger warnings for nightmares and past traumas (as is always with our poor little Caleb)
> 
>  
> 
> Please note: I updated this chapter about an hour after posting it, with loads more story (doubling the chapter), so PLEASE RE-READ it, or you probably wont get chapter 3 -> I will copy this to the start of chapter 3 too *if I remember to^

_The cart glided into the house and almost instantly the flames grew and expanded, swallowing and destroying anything and everything in their path. Soon flames were coming out of the now-empty spaces where windows once were, melted by the intense heat. Suddenly, screams pierced the almost silent air, easily overpowering the crackling fire._

 

_Caleb knew those screams. They were the screams of his parents. Of the ones that brought him up. That loved him, even when he set fire to his room when he was only eight. Who supported him when he told them he wanted to go to the academy. Who were planning to overthrow the government. But the longer he listened to those screams, the more the memory of their hushed whispered wavered. It seemed almost fuzzy. Or fluffy. As if he didn't remember it properly. But Caleb had an eidetic memory. He remembered everything perfectly._

 

_That memory was false. His parents never talked about a revolution. It was all fake, all Trent._

 

“ _NOOOO! They didn't do it. They didn't plan anything! It was false!” Caleb ran forward and tried to put out the flames, tried to control them but for the first time in his life, the flames wouldn't obey him._

 

“ _Caleb! Caleb, no! Back away! They're traitors!” he heard his companions, his_ friends _, shout from behind him. “ **Bitte** **!** **Bitte** **!** ”_

 

“ _Caleb!” He felt them grab his shoulders. “Caleb!” Felt them shake him. “Caleb Widogast. Wake up!”_

 

“ _No, they didn't do -” Hold on, wake up? He wasn't asleep, he was perfectly awake. Watching his parents burn._

 

“ _Caleb! You're having a nightmare. Come on darling, come on-”_

 

 

“-wake up for me.”

 

Caleb's eyes flew open, and the first thing he saw was two red, gleaming demonic eyes. He squealed.

 

“Oh shit, yeah, sorry. Personal space. And I suppose the eyes, right?” The eyes moved away away Caleb blinked himself awake. “You were having a nightmare and I thought I should wake you up?”

 

“ **Nein** , do not worry. It was just disconcerting I suppose.” Caleb sat up and wiped the sweat from his brow. His voice felt harsh, and a sudden burst of fear ripped through him. “Mollymauk?”

 

“Yes Caleb dear?” The tenderness in Mollymauk's voice was alien, at least to Caleb.

 

“I... I wasn't, um, shouting, was I?” Caleb looked to Mollymauk, a mix of fear and concern etched into his face.

 

The look made Mollymauk drop all thoughts of teasing straight away. He answered with pure truth. “No Caleb. You weren't shouting. You were hardly making any noise, apart from a few whimpers and the sound of your turning in your bed. Don't worry, I have no idea about whatever it was you were dreaming about.” Mollymauk met Caleb's eyes with his own and smiled, a small but genuine curve of his lips.

 

It seemed to calm Caleb down, more so than what would be expected, especially when Caleb thought about his usual aversion to eye-to-eye contact. “Well, thank you Mollymauk. Your help is greatly appreciated. Usually Nott would wake me up, but she is with the girls tonight.” Remembering the state Mollymauk was in when he clumsily asked to sleep with him (well, not 'with him', but in his room), Caleb's face turned from one of fear and concern about himself to concern over Mollymauk's state and a small amount of amusement. “On that note Mollymauk, how are you feeling? You were quite drunk last night. You were also quite the gentleman. I never thought I'd see a self conscious Mollymauk, but alas, there **er war** ”

 

Molly chuckled and moved to sit next to Caleb. He took care not to sit too close though, aware of Caleb's aversion to close proximity. “I am fine now, thanks. It seemed He had quite an alcohol tolerance, which he gifted me. The others, however, I feel will be less than happy in the morning. I could do with a few more hours sleep though, unless you'd like to stay awake and talk? I'm always here.”

 

“ **Nein. Es ist** – okay. Sorry, it seems I also need more sleep.” With that, Caleb laid his head back onto his pillow and faced away from Mollymauk's side of the room. Curled in a ball, he stared out of the window, watching the night's sky. If Nott were with him, she'd curl under his chin and be a warm presence, reminding him of the here and now, stopping him from falling too deep into the memories he'd relived in his dreams. But Nott wasn't there, so he contented himself with tracing the patterns in the stars that he'd been taught as a child.

 

He felt Mollymauk shift off the bad and move towards his own, and couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. It seemed, however, that Mollymauk noticed the change in demeanour. “What does Nott usually do on nights like this, Caleb? I'd be happy to do whatever you need.”

 

“You do not need to.” Even turned away from him, Caleb could feel Mollymauk's disbelieving glare. “She... She usually curls up with me. When she is not here I tend to substitute her with Frumpkin, but he is in the other place at the moment and I have not had a chance to summon him once again. But do not feel obligated. I will be perfectly fine. I do not wish to make you uncomfortable.”

 

“Will it make you feel better?”

 

“ **Ja** , -”

 

“Then I do not mind. In fact, I'd rather like to, if that is okay with you.” Mollymauk stepped forward and gently laid a hand on Caleb's shoulder. When he felt the shoulder beneath his hand shrug, Mollymauk lifted the cover and slipped underneath it. “If you feel uncomfortable at any point, just say and I will go back to my own bed. Sleep well, Mister Caleb.”

 

“ **Danke** , Mollymauk.” Caleb fell silent, and continued to watch the stars.

 

It wasn't until a while later, after Mollymauk's breaths had evened out and the arm pertaining to that Tiefling had wrapped around his hips possessively that Caleb finally slipped into the most peaceful sleep he had had in months.

 

Ordinarily, he would have questioned the level of comfort he felt with another person, one he had known for so small a time, but he was so tired and was still reeling from his dream to even question it.

 

*****

 

When Caleb woke up once again, he was alone. The bed behind him was cold to the touch, and he realised that Mollymauk had been gone for quite a while. The low-level of anxiety that always coursed through his body increased to a high but manageable level as he thought back on the events of the previous night.

 

Caleb knew that Mollymauk had most likely gone downstairs to the main bar of the tavern, looking for food. He also knew that by now most of the Mighty Nein would be there as well, but did not feel up to facing them, especially if Mollymauk had described the events of the last night to the others, which he was bound to have done, so instead sat on the floor and cast the ritual for _Find Familiar_ having decided that Frumpkin's presence would significantly lower the need for any more 'kindness' from Mollymauk.

 

Almost done with the hour-long ritual, Caleb heard a tentative knock at the door of his room. “ **Ja** , enter.”

 

With a creak of the hinges, Mollymauk's head once again peaked around the edge. “Hi Caleb, I was checking you were alright. It's getting late and you still haven't been down for food.”

 

“I am alright Mollymauk. Just busy -” he motioned to the ritual around him. “Just one minute and I will be ready to come down.”

 

“Actually, I just wanted to talk to you before we went downstairs again. About last night.”

 

Caleb tensed, but kept his concentration on the ritual he had completed many times before. “Very well.” Within a few moments Frumpkin reappeared once again, and headed straight for Caleb, seemingly sensing Caleb's distress. “ **Ja** , Mollymauk? You wanted to talk about last night?”

 

“I thought I should make it clear I had not told any of the others about what happened, in case you were wondering.” Caleb visibly relaxed, most of the tension leaving his body. “And I wanted to make it clear that I'd never force you to tell me anything you're not comfortable with, but that being said, if you ever need to talk to someone, or if you need someone to talk to you, I'm happy to help. You can just wake me up if you don't want to disturb Nott. I know what it's like to remember things you don't want to.”

 

“Thank you Mollymauk. I will keep that in mind. And thank you for not telling the others. Did they question why you were not in your room overnight?”

 

“They did, but I told them the truth.” Caleb stiffened once again. “Only that I was drunk and Fjord was passed out and that I slept in Nott's bed because I couldn't stand Fjord's snoring. Nothing else, don't worry.”

“ **Ja, danke** Mollymauk.”

 

“Anyway, I'm going back down before Nott eats all the breakfast. You coming?”

 

Mollymauk stood up, and so did Caleb. They made their way down to the tavern and joined the rest of the group. Thankfully, it seemed no one noticed Caleb's awkwardness, and didn't mention anything about the night before. There was only Nott's concerned look which disappeared with a small nod from Caleb. Caleb supposed they were all feeling a little bit too tender from the night before to be able to think up new ways of tormenting their resident wizard, and for the first time Caleb was thankful for the heavy drinking the day before.

 

The Mighty Nein decided that as they weren't busy for that day in particular, they would just spend the day exploring the new city they found themselves in.

 

“I think I'll go to the Townhouse and see if the Crownsguard have any jobs they'd like us to fulfil while we're here. We can always do with new gold.” Fjord said from the end of the table, albeit somewhat quieter than he usually was, Caleb noticed.

 

“Yeah! I'll come too!” Jester perked up, hangover apparently forgotten at the chance of an expedition. “I'll probably look for a bakery too. I'm running low on pastries.”

 

“You're always running low on pastries though Jester.”

 

“And you're always running low on paper and ink, Caleb, and we never comment on that. Besides, I need pastries for my spells.” Jester seemed somewhat perturbed by Caleb's joking comment.

 

“Well, let us be fair to Mister Caleb, -” Caleb felt his cheeks warm at what was seemingly Mollymauk's new favourite name for him “- We did torment him somewhat heavily about the amount of paper he used, so we can't act all innocent. Anyone else have any plans for the day then?”

 

“I'm going to see if there is another Cobalt Soul place to -” Beauregard paused, seemingly trying to think of an end to her sentence “- get beat up again?”

 

“So, Beauregard is going to look for Yasha in case she has returned early, and when she doesn't she is going to go get beat up by some women who are much stronger than herself. Seems like a fun day.” Mollymauk perked up, his smirk increasing when Beauregard went bright red, but said nothing to deny the accusations.

 

“I am going to look for another book store or library. As I am sure you have all come to expect.”

 

“And I will go with you Mister Caleb, considering young Nott over there is in no state to accompany you, but would surely stab one of us in our sleep if we were to let you go roaming on your own.” Everyone (including Caleb) turned to Nott who was resting her forehead on the table, her plate of sausages untouched.

 

Nott raised a single thumb and whispered hoarsely (seemingly the loudest noise she could make at that moment) “He's not wrong. If anything happens to Caleb, I will stab a randomly selected member in their sleep.”

 

“While that is endearing, though somewhat concerning, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself you know. I did it for long enough.”

 

A few members barely stifled giggles at that, the most notably Beauregard and Nott.

 

“Assuming I am ignoring the fact that you met our lovely resident goblin-” a finger was presented to the purple Tiefling from said goblin “- in prison, we are well aware you can look after yourself. However, I am more scared of what Nott will do to me if I do not come with you, than what you would do if I did. Understand?”

 

Mollymauk was now staring intently at Caleb, a look on his face that the wizard interpreted as _'If you don't allow me to accompany you, I will follow you anyway'_. Caleb relented. “Fine. But you are not going to pressure me into being faster, and you will not complain about being bored.”

 

“Very well. Shall we leave?”

 

Mollymauk stood and the rest of the Mighty Nein followed suit, except Nott who did not even move her head. Caleb summoned Frumpkin and left him with Nott for comfort, and left the tavern after Beauregard, well aware that Mollymauk was right behind him.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't forget to comment/kudos if you enjoyed it!
> 
> Also subscribe if you want more so you get those all important notifications of updates!!!


End file.
